Indigenous Epistemology
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| "Vessels in room 28, first layer in west end, Pueblo Bonito, New Mexico, 1896" from the Natural History Museum of Utah. Indigenous vessels being categorized and labeled upon excavation. https://nhmu.utah.edu/blog/2016/08/04/cacao-chaco-canyon |
In chapter 3 of her book Indigenous Methodologies, Margaret Kovach discusses epistemology as it relates to modern research practices in professional western institutions. Epistemology is the “theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope. Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion."¹ The concept of modern academia in the United States was born from wealthy, white, protestant Europeans, and the strict methodologies used for research today are still based in those Euro-American cultural values.
How do Euro-American cultural values translate to research and knowledge? This culture highly emphasizes clearly categorized groups with defined boundaries, especially in boundaries and opposites. If there was anything our wealthy, white, protestant European ancestors enjoyed, it was maintaining power and influence by identifying “us” and “them”, or “like” and “unlike”; beyond that, they assigned “right” and “wrong”. This has obviously transcended millennia, as our Western world is still grappling with letting go of some of these binaries and accepting a more fluid perspective. But less diverse institutions like academia are well behind the curve, not only still favoring these cultural constructs, but dismissing all others.
Indigenous epistemology and research methodologies (which vary between tribes, but have much in common when compared to western methodologies) are not only less rigid, but more holistic in practice. This means they do not separate their body from their mind when learning, and they do not separate the emotional and metaphysical from the logical and physical when researching. Ceremonial and spiritual knowledge is often as integral to indigenous learning as material knowledge.
In western academics and especially research, we feel most comfortable paring it down to the facts - things that can be verified or proved (even in situations, like the interpretation of art, where that isn’t necessarily possible or even applicable.) But indigenous methodologies emphasize the interconnectedness of all things, and consider that an important factor for knowledge and understanding. Also unlike western culture, in indigenous teaching they consider the exchange of information to be reciprocal and ever-expanding, again pointing to this very flexible and fluid knowledge base.
While these indigenous epistemologies will never be my own, learning about how other cultures process the world around them is an important lesson. Like we’ve discussed in varying realms throughout the semester, this is yet another perspective that illustrates how we understand and interpret the world around us - including art - based on our own personal framework of identities.
For me personally, as an American raised largely in the absence of spirituality entirely, I will be the first to admit I tend to be dismissive (and even averse) to overtly religious content. When considering the context of my lived experiences and framework of understanding, this makes sense! But as an artist (and human) that is interested in continually growing and expanding that framework, it’s helpful to understand why those preconceived notions can be limiting. At the very least, it would be helpful for all of us to be able to identify that when something feels “wrong”, all that really means is it doesn’t align with our understanding.
How do Euro-American cultural values translate to research and knowledge? This culture highly emphasizes clearly categorized groups with defined boundaries, especially in boundaries and opposites. If there was anything our wealthy, white, protestant European ancestors enjoyed, it was maintaining power and influence by identifying “us” and “them”, or “like” and “unlike”; beyond that, they assigned “right” and “wrong”. This has obviously transcended millennia, as our Western world is still grappling with letting go of some of these binaries and accepting a more fluid perspective. But less diverse institutions like academia are well behind the curve, not only still favoring these cultural constructs, but dismissing all others.
Indigenous epistemology and research methodologies (which vary between tribes, but have much in common when compared to western methodologies) are not only less rigid, but more holistic in practice. This means they do not separate their body from their mind when learning, and they do not separate the emotional and metaphysical from the logical and physical when researching. Ceremonial and spiritual knowledge is often as integral to indigenous learning as material knowledge.
In western academics and especially research, we feel most comfortable paring it down to the facts - things that can be verified or proved (even in situations, like the interpretation of art, where that isn’t necessarily possible or even applicable.) But indigenous methodologies emphasize the interconnectedness of all things, and consider that an important factor for knowledge and understanding. Also unlike western culture, in indigenous teaching they consider the exchange of information to be reciprocal and ever-expanding, again pointing to this very flexible and fluid knowledge base.
While these indigenous epistemologies will never be my own, learning about how other cultures process the world around them is an important lesson. Like we’ve discussed in varying realms throughout the semester, this is yet another perspective that illustrates how we understand and interpret the world around us - including art - based on our own personal framework of identities.
For me personally, as an American raised largely in the absence of spirituality entirely, I will be the first to admit I tend to be dismissive (and even averse) to overtly religious content. When considering the context of my lived experiences and framework of understanding, this makes sense! But as an artist (and human) that is interested in continually growing and expanding that framework, it’s helpful to understand why those preconceived notions can be limiting. At the very least, it would be helpful for all of us to be able to identify that when something feels “wrong”, all that really means is it doesn’t align with our understanding.
Works Cited
Kovach, Margaret. “Epistemology and Research: Centring Tribal Knowledge.” In Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations, and Contexts, 55-74. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009.
Google. “Epistemology Definition.” Definitions from Oxford Languages. Accessed November 6, 2022. https://www.google.com/search?q=epistemology+definition&rlz=1C1ONGR_enUS970US970&oq=epistemology+definition&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i512l9.3809j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
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